Tabris - A Tale of Vengeance
by FalconHawk
Summary: An in depth look into the origin and recruitment of Kylae Tabris. With my own AU twist on things of course. (Rated T for language)
1. The Wedding

Note: _In my story _Rise of the Wardens_ the only Warden's origin that was never really discussed was Tabris'. The reason is that it would have played out almost exactly as it did in-game, and I didn't want to write that. Later on I started of thinking of ways to change it up, and make it more original, eventually I was able to put this together. If you haven't read _Rise of the Wardens_, then don't worry, all you need to know going into this is that Eebon Cousland was recruited at the same time as Alistair and has been a Grey Warden for about six months now._

Dedication: _This story is dedicated to a fellow writer, LyriumLove. At first I really hadn't planned on writing this at all, but while discussing ideas, she demanded that I write this, so here it is._

* * *

Elven alienages were usually somewhat dour places. Very few of its denizens had respectable jobs, and fewer still had coin to spare on aesthetics or celebrations. Weddings were different however. The long standing tensions between the humans and elves had forced the less fortunate elves to almost exclusively rely on themselves, and so when there was a wedding literally the entire alienage threw in and contributed something. This time however it was two weddings, so it was twice the celebration. Alarith, practically the only elf in all of Denerim who owned his own business had pitched in and nearly emptied his supply of ale and other alcohols to supply the celebration of Kylae and Soris' weddings.

There was really nothing unusual about Kylae at first glance, she looked just like every other elf maiden, perhaps a bit undernourished, but at the same time lithe and athletic looking. Kylae had a lightweight build and usually kept her almost black hair pulled back in a ponytail. On second glance however, one could tell that the young Kylae Tabris was anything but average. There were scars on her hands and on the insides of her forearms , clear signs of a knife fights or dagger practicing, or in Kylae's case, both.

The weapons and martial training had started when Kylae was at the tender age of eight years old, unfortunately, Kylae's trainer and mother, Adaia, had disappeared when Kylae was only twelve. She wasn't dead, despite what Cyrion, Kylae's father had said, Kylae knew that her mother was still alive. She would never forget the last time when her mother had come into her room late at night, sweeping her up in her arms, repeatedly kissing her forehead and saying over and over again '_I love you… I love you so much!_' And then she was gone. After her mother's disappearance Kylae hadn't had anyone to mentor her in knife fighting, or other combat skills, so she had struck out on her own, using her skills in subtlety to pull off risky thefts with her cousins, and betting on herself in pit fights. She'd killed before, both inside and out of the fighting pits, dwarves, humans, elves, it didn't really matter to her, as long as she managed to gain some coin out of it. Her cousins, Shianni and Soris, who might as well have been her sister and brother both knew about her thievery and killing, her father didn't, and Kylae was happy to have it that way, she didn't want Cyrion to know under any circumstances. No matter what she did, she would always be the innocent daughter to her father, and that was exactly how Kylae wanted it.

Kylae looked up from the scars on her forearms to her cousin, Soris, as he brought her another clay mug filled to the brim with ale. "Drink up cousin!" He said happily, "This might be our last time to do so as free singles!"

She accepting the drink and took several swallows before saying, "So whaddaya know 'bout our betrothed?"

"Nothin' really." Soris answered. "I know they come from Highever, and that your man is better off than most… but nothing else."

Kylae smirked. "Funny how ya know more 'bout my betrothed than your own."

"Please don't bring that up." Soris begged, "It makes me imagine things when you do, and not in a good way."

Kylae grinned evilly, "Like what? Like how she jus' might look like the wrong side of a dog?"

"Kylae!" Soris shouted, "Would ya stop that?!"

"Hey, whatcha doin' to my cousin!"

Both Soris and Kylae looked up to see Shianni. Aside from the fact that Shianni's hair was flaming red and Kylae's was a very dark brown, the two of them could have easily passed for sisters, twins even, and they acted like it too.

"Me?" Kylae said, adopting an expression of childlike innocence. "I wasn't doin' nothin'… and he's _our_ cousin."

Shianni smirked and shook her head at Kylae before sitting down with her two cousins. Kylae tipped her head back and drained her ale in one long pull, sighing contentedly as she set the now empty mug back down.

Kylae asked, "So I take it you don't know anything 'bout this Nelaros I'm being forced to marry do you?"

Shianni shook her head again. "No, but I hear that he's dreamy."

Kylae only rolled her eyes, then lifted her empty cup and shouted, "Hey… HEY! Refill here!" She waited until another elf had given her the refill before she said, "What 'bout Highever… since I'm gonna be dragged off there."

Both Shianni and Soris shrugged. "Just what travelers tell us." Shianni answered.

Then Soris added, "I did hear that the alienage there is much smaller than this one, but apparently the human lord over there… well, they say he's a good man."

"_Pah!_" Kylae spat as she began guzzling ale again. "No such thing as a good shem!"

The elven cousins drank and laughed, and they talked about all the fun the three of them had had together, and the trouble they'd got themselves in, and then how they got themselves out. Kylae had always been something of a ring leader to them, always willing to venture out into both the market and the palace districts to liberate the rich from their unfairly earned coin and belongings, and with her martial training, Kylae had caused more than a few broken bones and bloodied noses. Shianni excelled at causing distractions, she had a big mouth, and the red hair only helped. But on the other hand, Shianni could also very convincingly play the opposite role and appear a doe-eyed submissive woman, all depending on what the scheme called for. She could fight as well, since everything that Kylae learned she passed onto her cousins, Shianni lacked Kylae's enthusiasm on the issue of combat, and Soris was a total disaster when it came to blades. Soris was the voice of reason, and in the words of the other two cousins, a 'kill-joy'. Soris was always reluctant when it came to crime, although Kylae and Shianni both knew how apply the right pressure to get their hesitant cousin to bend. With Soris' cautious nature however, he'd more than once saved the more eager women from getting arrested by the city guards.

Shianni was starting to sway drunkenly, and Kylae wasn't far behind when another girl approached the group of cousins. "Soris," She smiled sweetly. "Do ya wanna dance with me?"

"I…" He slowly drew the word out, then looked to his kin for support.

"Whatcha lookin' at me for?" Kylae grinned, "Dance with the girl! Maker knows she likes ya, and pretty soon you're gonna be on lockdown for the rest of your life!"

"Yeah!" Shianni chimed in, "Go for it Soris!"

Nessa was considered by most of the male population to be one of the prettiest single elves in the alienage, and was only a year or two younger than the cousins, she'd made some rather unsubtle moves towards Soris, although up till now at least he'd always been too shy to take advantage of it.

Both cousins laughed as Soris was hauled away. Kylae drained her ale again and held up the empty mug. "Hey!" She yelled for another refill.

"Haven't you had enough?" Shianni asked.

"Look who's talking!" Kylae laughed, then glanced back at Soris and the auburn haired girl he was now dancing with. "How long has Nessa been tryin' to get with Soris?"

"Beats me." Shianni shrugged, "Long enough though… good for her. How far do you think the two of them are gonna take it tonight?"

Kylae snorted, "I'm ain't that curious."

* * *

Eebon Cousland jumped off the still moving peddler's cart just outside of Denerim. "Thank you." He called to the traveling merchant, just as he dug a few silver coins out of a pouch and passed them to the man as a token of appreciation. "Safe journey."

"Eebon!" A third man called who still sat in the back of the cart. "Remember that true talent is not always in the most obvious of places. Don't hesitate to search through the slums, the alienage, even the prisons. And don't come back until you've found at least one recruit."

"As you command, Duncan." Eebon bowed his head. "Hopefully either the name of the Grey Wardens or the my own name will carry some weight." He fixed a large greatsword across his back and watched as the cart started to move away. "Good luck with the Dalish." He called loudly, "And be careful, you never know what stories about them are true and which are lies."

Duncan only nodded in answer as the cart drew further away and lifted a hand in farewell. Eebon returned the gesture, then made his way towards the large gates of Denerim. He could see the spikes over the gate and along the walls where the Alamarri barbarians in the old days would have placed the heads of their enemies and criminals, a tradition that had long since been discontinued.

Eebon himself was an imposing figure. He stood several inches taller than most people, and even with the suit of scaled armor concealing his physique was obvious that he was a powerful man, the heavy greatsword across his back only gave more credence to his physical power. Unlike most professional soldiers, Eebon's hair was long, almost touching his shoulders. Long hair tended to get caught and tangled up in a helmet or chainmail coif, perhaps it was a touch of nobleman's pride. Despite his intimidating stature however, Eebon had a friendly looking face and smiled easily, his steel blue eyes had a penetrating look, like he could determine a person's entire worth just by glancing at them. The guard who was standing sentry at the gate sensed this about him, and averted his own gaze, remaining silent as Eebon passed into the city. His first stop would be the military stronghold of Fort Drakon, he wondered if the training the Denerim soldiers received would equal the rigorous training regime of Highever.

* * *

"Wake up…" Shianni drew the two words out, making her voice high pitched and child-like. "Time to wake up cousin!"

Kylae groaned and turned her face to the wall. "Go away!" She moaned as she grabbed at her forehead. "And close the damn window! It's too bright!"

"Kylae…" Shianni tried to keep herself from giggling, "It's noon already!"

"Noon?" Kylae repeated, and rolled over again to look at her surrogate sister through one eye. "You serious?"

"Completely." Shianni confirmed, "Now get up! It's a big day today!"

Another groan answered the red-head. "Today is recover from yesterday-day! Go away… my head is pounding!"

"Shouldn't have drank so much!" Shianni giggled again. "And I gotta surprise for ya… your husband-to-be, Nelaros… he's here early! And the stories were true! He is dreamy!"

Kylae's only response was to roll over so she was face down and bury her face in the pillow. "Quit joshin' me!" She said, her voice badly muffled from the pillow. "He ain't gettin' here for 'nother week! At the very least gimme five more minutes!"

"Well what can I say? He arrived early!" Shianni beamed. "And fine… I'll give ya five more minutes, if you're not awake by then I'm resorting to the cold water… Well… maybe more than five minutes, it will give me a chance to get to know Nelaros better!"

"Yeah, well… lemme know how the wedding between the two of you goes!" Kylae mocked as she pulled the blanket over her head and focused on going back to sleep. It would be so hilariously ironic if her dear cousin and betrothed ended up getting married, stranger things had happened before. '_And it's my right to dream!_' Kylae smiled to herself at the thought as she drifted back onto the seas of sleep.

Kylae didn't know how long she'd been sleeping before a bucket of ice cold water was dumped over her head, and she suddenly woke up, sputtering like a drowning woman. "Shianni!" Kylae yelled after recovering from her moment of panic, "What in sod-all was that for!?"

Shianni instinctively ducked to avoid the boot that Kylae threw at her. "Well… I did tell you that I was goin' to resort to using water if you weren't up in five minutes… and it's been an hour by the way."

"An' ya got my bed all wet too!" Kylae raged.

"Stop your whining, cous!" Shianni grinned. "Now get your ass out of bed so we can get you out of those wet clothes and into your wedding dress."

Kylae growled one last time and then finally pulled herself out of bed and began stripping out of the clothes she'd been wearing since the previous day consisting of a patched and colorless dress. It was comfortable attire however, if only because it was several years old and so worn that it was threadbare in some places. Shianni glanced at her cousin and briefly analyzed her.

"Hey, what's that for?" Kylae said, noticing Shianni's interest.

"Nothin'." Shianni answered. "Jus' makin' sure that you don't have no fresh bruises or scars on ya… That could make for an awkward conversation with your new husband tonight. Speakin' of which, what are ya gonna tell him when he asks where ya got the scars?"

Kylae shrugged. "I dunno. Prob'ly the truth… He's gonna find out sooner or later."

Shianni sighed and handed her surrogate sister the wedding clothes and began helping her to put it on. At first Kylae was muttering angrily under her breath and cursing, but she soon stopped and began admiring herself in the small, cracked mirror. The clothing consisted of a pattered grey-green skirt that came halfway below her knees, and a white silk shirt with the shoulders left open and with green and brown embroidery down the center and around the body in several places. As Shianni began tightening the laces that ran down the back, Kylae moved her hands down the front of the outfit.

"Oh…" Kylae said as she continued to touch the expensive clothing. "I look… well… I look like a…"

"Like a bride?" Shianni suggested.

Kylae rolled her eyes and groaned.

* * *

Eebon glanced around the alienage square and swallowed. He hadn't been to the alienage in Highever very often, but it was obvious that the Highever elves were better off. From the moment he'd crossed the bridge spanning the River Drakon and stepped into the alienage he'd received nothing but hateful and even hostile looks from the elves, and it was clear that if he wasn't wearing a suit of scaled armor or had been without the massive greatsword strapped to his back then he would have been attacked.

He did have to admit that the square did look somewhat festive, with colorful decorations almost everywhere he looked, and the trunk of the gigantic tree in the center of the square being painted as high up as the elves could reach. Eebon wondered if it was some sort of elven holiday. He really didn't know if there was such a thing. To the best of his knowledge the elves had always celebrated the same holidays and festivals that the humans did, but perhaps things were different in the Denerim alienage.

Not far away stood two elves, a man and a woman, who seemed to be the center of attention at the moment. The male elf had short-cut blonde hair and appeared to be a bit more broad shouldered than most elves. The woman looked a bit odd with overly large ears that flayed out to the side too far.

"Would you be the new Grey Warden that Duncan told me to expect?"

Eebon turned to look at who had spoken. It was an elder elf, his hair turned completely grey with a single braid to either side of his craggy, aged face. The elf smiled oddly enough, this seemed to be the first elf in the alienage who didn't overtly hate his presence.

"Yes, my name is Eebon." He almost included his last name before remembering that Grey Wardens were strongly encouraged to leave their old lives behind them, and as such rarely used their surnames. Eebon didn't even a clue what Duncan's family name was. But as he came from one of the highest and most respected families in all of Ferelden, it was a difficult practice for him. "And who would you be?"

"I am Valendrian." The elf answered, and the shock on his face was plainly readable when Eebon bowed politely. " I am… the elder here." He continued after recovering from his surprise. "Duncan wrote to me a couple weeks ago, telling me that he would be sending one of his junior Wardens to look for recruits."

"Indeed." Eebon said as he straightened. "Would you happen to know of anyone suitable for the Wardens?"

Valendrian stroked his chin as he thought for moment. "Well, there is Garth… a bit of a brawler if you ask me. He's a fiery one, who's spent more than a night or two in the dungeon for his spirit."

Eebon noted that Valendrian cleverly avoided saying anything about how Garth was obviously picking fights with humans.

"Then there is Rammus, a Rivaini elf who has recently come to live with us…" He lowered his voice as he said, "I suspect his life was a bit more… colorful than he lets on. And finally there is Kylae and Shianni, the cousins who are a constant headache to this old man."

Eebon lifted an eyebrow in curiosity. "How is that?"

"Well… Kylae's mother fought during the Orlesian occupation, and after Kylae was born she began to teach her all she knew. And then Kylae taught Shianni. Ever since they were little, along with their cousin Soris, they've been getting into trouble. Mostly harmless mind you, but sometimes… not so harmless." Valendrian stopped and pointed behind Eebon. "Speaking of who…" He said.

Eebon turned just as two she-elves left their house. The first was a red-head, pretty by elven standards, although Eebon had never been much into elven women… And then he saw the second elf and for a few moments he was sure he could hear his heart beating in his ears. '_She is beautiful!_' And it wasn't just because of the dress she was wearing that forced him to quickly reevaluate his stance on elven women, it was everything about her from the way her dark brown, almost black hair fell down to her shoulders, the cocky half-smile that was pasted on her face, the shape of her body beneath the form fitting dress, it was in the self-confident, sure-footed stride as she followed her cousin, it was everything.

Valendrian loudly cleared his throat and Eebon quickly shook his head and looked back at the hahren. "That would be Kylae." The old elf stated. "And today is her wedding day, along with her cousin, Soris. So while I'm more than aware of how you can conscript anyone you like into your order, I would ask that you spare her, family is everything to us elves, and it's all we have."

Eebon raised his eyebrows in suspicion as he looked at Valendrian. "Did you plan it this way? Marry off a promising candidate to keep her from becoming a Warden? That would especially make sense since you've known that was coming for several weeks now."

Valendrian was smart enough to not answer the accusation, he only looked up at the much taller human and awaited his own answer.

"Very well." Eebon finally agreed, trying hard not to turn his gaze back to the beautiful Kylae. "Kylae will be off limits."

"Thank you Warden Eebon." Valendrian said, "And now if you'll excuse me, I have my own duties to attend to." The elf was again shocked as Eebon once again bowed politely.

Eebon leaned a shoulder against the tree and crossed his arms over his chest, he considered going to seek out one of the candidates that Valendrian had mentioned, although it wasn't long before his eyes drifted back to Kylae. The beautiful she-elf was now talking with the blonde boy-elf, and Eebon assumed that it was her betrothed. Eebon sighed and shifted his weight to one leg. '_I might as well stick around a while longer._' He told himself. '_I've never even seen an elven wedding before._'

A bout of drunken laughter caused him to turn his head towards the opposite side of the tree just in time to see Vaughan Kendalls, along with two of his sycophantic friends, stagger through the alienage. '_Oh no… not this drunken idiot again!_' Eebon couldn't stop himself from snarling. He'd only met Vaughan on one occasion before, when his father, Bryce Cousland, had taken him along for a political meeting in Denerim with Vaughan's father, Urien Kendals, the Arl of Denerim. Vaughan had promptly gotten drunk early in the evening and couldn't keep his hands off one of the servant girls to the point where Eebon was certain he was either trying to assault her or rape her… or possibly both. He'd stopped after Eebon had threatened to beat him bloody and Urien had made it clear he had no intention of interfering. Eebon's hands curled into fists at the memory, and he hoped it would come to that again… he doubted it however.

* * *

The groom and bride to be, Nelaros and Valora, made their excuse about having to prepare for the wedding and disappeared along with Valendrian into his home. Kylae briefly wondered what the three of them were discussing as she turned to look at Soris. "Well," She said, "He seems… nice… I guess."

Soris shook his head and chuckled quietly, "So maybe marriage won't be the prison you were afraid it would be."

"Maybe not." Kylae relented.

"And Valora." Soris shrugged. "Yes, she looks a bit odd… but I could get used to it. And I think I like her."

"You just met her!" Kylae teased as she jabbed him in the ribs.

"Yeah, so?" Soris rubbed his side where his cousin and roughly poked him, then his face turned sad. "I am going to miss you Kylae. It won't be the same without you around."

Kylae snorted.

"For one thing it will be a lot quieter!" Soris laughed and Kylae joined in, then the two of them hugged each other.

"If I ever had a brother," Kylae said quietly, "I'd want him to be just like you, Soris."

The moment between the surrogate siblings was ruined when they heard one of the bridesmaids named Nola gasp out of surprise and horror before saying, "No, let me go! Please!"

Kylae and Soris released each other and Kylae snarled in hatred, she'd seen Vaughan enough times in her life, and had heard more than enough stories about him, but so far she'd never had the bad luck to have to deal with him. But now it looked like that was about to change. Kylae touched the hilt of the dagger that was strapped to her leg under the dress, she never left home without it!

Nola finally succeeded in pulling away from Vaughan and instantly disappeared into the crowd. Vaughan and his two friends laughed drunkenly. Then Vaughan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Do you smell that my friends?" He said, "The air is just right for whoring! Each of you grab one… it's going to be a good day today!"

"Get out of our alienage!" Kylae spat. "While you're still able to walk, and before we make you leave!"

Vaughan gave another drunken laugh. "What's this?" He said, "A blushing bride no doubt?" He staggered closer and had the audacity to lean over and smell her hair. It took every ounce of Kylae's self-control not to pull up the dress, unsheath the dagger, and then plunge it into his gut before twisting it, so she settled for punching him in the sternum. Vaughan staggered back two steps before rubbing his chest and saying, "And a feisty little one at that… oh I'll break you of that!"

'_That's it!_' Kylae mentally growled and started going for the dagger. Soris grabbed her at the same time to keep her from drawing the weapon, and then both their eyes shot wide open at the scene unfolding in front of them.

Shianni came up behind Vaughan and reaching up tapped him on the shoulder with two fingers, the much taller human turned around and at seeing the red-headed elf a cruel smile began to play across his face. It turned into unbelieving shock as Shianni swung the jug she'd been holding in the other hand around with full force and crashed it into his head. Vaughan staggered back and forth for a few steps before slowing moving a hand to the side of his head where the bottle had impacted. "Ouch…" He said distantly, and then promptly fell over backwards into the muddy street.

Kylae couldn't hold it in any longer and let out a loud hooting laugh, she was the only person in the alienage square who was laughing, everyone else was frozen in shock.

"What have you done?" One of Vaughan's sycophants said, stooping by his side. "Do you have any idea who this is?"

"I sure sodding do!" Kylae snarled, answering for Shianni. "And if you don't get him out of here _right_ now then we're gonna do worse to you!"

The two lordlings quickly decided to take her advice and scooped up their unconscious friend and made their way out of the alienage. As if on cue, Valendrian came back out of his house with Nelaros and Valora.

Valora said, "We heard something of a commotion. What happened out here?"

"_Umm_…" Soris looked for the right way to put it. "The arl's son came by… and it seems like he had a bit too much to drink. But he's gone now."

Valendrian looked around at each of the three cousins before touching his temple with two fingers and slowly shaking his head, he could already feel another headache coming on. "Very well." He sighed tiredly, "Let's get on with the wedding, come along."

Just as Soris started to follow the Hahren, Kylae grabbed his arm and nodded towards the Vhenadhal, "What does that look like to you?" She asked.

"Another shem?"

"Very observant…" Kylae said sarcastically. "And shem spells trouble. Come-on, let's get rid of him before the wedding starts. I'd rather not have any more interruptions."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Soris asked apprehensively. "I don't know about you, but I've had quiet enough excitement for one day."

Kylae rolled her eyes and started pulling him along. "Come-on you big baby… I'll be right here next to you to make sure the big shem doesn't hurt you!" And pulling her reluctant cousin along, Kylae made her way towards the human who stood leaning against the Vhenadhal. As she came closer however, a funny thing happened. The human pushed himself away from the tree and with a slight flourish of his right hand he bowed, quickly straightening back up and looking over both her and Soris with his eyes, which looked to be forged from blue steel.

"What…" Kylae said, and for some reason she wasn't certain of she lost her train of thought, maybe it was the bow, which had seemed sincere and not all mocking, or perhaps it was the eyes, the eyes that seemed to analyze her entire being and were satisfied with what they say. Relocating her thoughts, Kylae tried to sound intimidating as she said, "What in sod-all are you doing here shem? You get lost or something? You run out of entertainment at your big, fancy house?"

The human didn't take the bait however and answered in a calm voice, "No. I am here on a mission for the Grey Wardens."

Kylae fought to keep her jaw from dropping. "The… Grey Wardens?" She repeated.

"You've heard of us?"

"Yeah, I have… What? You think us elves are stupid, or ignorant, or something?"

"Not at all." He answered. "I'm just not used to people knowing about my order."

"My mother told me a few stories." Kylae replied, and then she saw Soris staring at her out of the corner of her eye. She knew what Soris was thinking, '_Why is she making conversation with a shem now?_' And Kylae found that she was wondering the same thing.

Soris said, "Whatever your reasons are for being here, you need to leave now! This isn't a good place for humans. You being here is just going to make trouble for both of our sides?"

The human turned his gaze from Kylae to Soris and said, "Sides? Are we at war now?" He smirked, and Kylae was surprised that she had suppress a laugh herself. "I will be gone before sundown, but I have no intention of leaving before my task is finished.

Kylae looked back to where Nelaros, Valora, and Valendrian were all waiting for the two of them. Even the priestess, Mother Boann was ready to begin. Kylae nudged Soris and motioned with her head that it was time to leave. Soris nodded and wordlessly began to make his way through the crowd, Kylae followed but then stopped after a few steps and looked back at the Grey Warden. "You gonna stick around after the wedding?"

"That's my plan, yes."

"Good. I wanna hear some more about the Wardens. We'll talk more later… hey what's your name anyway?"

"Eebon."

"I'm Kylae."

Eebon grinned. "An honor to meet you."

As she reluctantly turned back towards the wedding that was waiting to start, Kylae suddenly found herself wishing that the wedding was on another day. She wanted to sit and talk to the shem, Eebon. And as crazy as it sounded even to herself, she had a feeling that his Eebon just _might_ be a decent shem. He would still have a long way to go before she'd call him a good shem… but decent might not be too much of a stretch. Kylae had never seen a human be so polite to an elf before, and he was a Grey Warden, part of the same order that her mother had almost become a part of! She definitely wanted to learn more. Even more absurd was that Kylae realized part of her eagerness to talk with him again had been due to his handsomeness. Kylae felt her cheeks flush and shook her head to clear the images that were forming there. Taking her place beside Nelaros she glanced at her almost-husband, then over at Soris with his almost-wife. She had to fight the urge to keep from looking back at Eebon.


	2. Abducted

Eebon stood with his back against the tree once more and crossed his arms over his chest again, his eyes on the raised platform that held the Hahren, the two couples, the youngest Revered Mother that he had ever seen, and the rest of the bridal entourage. '_Lucky guy._' He thought to himself as he looked at Kylae's soon to be husband.

In a few more seconds, Valendrian called out loud enough that even Eebon could hear him, "As we come together to celebrate the joyous union of these people before, we also remember the bonds of family and kin. For what do we have in this world if not for each other? And today, we celebrate the beginning of two new families. May the Maker turn his gaze on them, and make their lives long, and full of happiness."

Eebon heard someone mumble drunkenly as they stumbled over their own feet behind him. He turned his head, expecting to see one of the many drunk elves who were staggering about the alienage, but he found only Vaughan along with the same two 'friends' he had been with earlier… and this time he also had a contingent of soldiers with him. Eebon felt his upper lip curl back in hatred, and he could only hope that fool would have just enough decency to leave well enough alone this time, although he expected that Vaughan didn't… and in the next few moments the arl's son only proved him right.

* * *

As soon as Valendrian had finished speaking, Mother Boann took her place and began her own monologue. "In the name of Andraste, bride of the Maker, and in whose name we speak the Chant of Light…" She trailed off as she saw Vaughan and his two friends make their way onto the platform. "My lord?" She said in surprise.

Only a few feet away, Kylae had a very similar reaction to Eebon, her face twisted into a mask of hatred, and she once again considered pulling her dagger and cutting his throat, and if it had only been him and his two lordling followers than she would have done just that… unfortunately he also had soldiers with him.

"I'm terribly sorry Mother…" Vaughan slurred, "But I'm… I'm holding a party at the palace, and I'm a bit short of guests." He grinned cruelly.

"My lord, this is a wedding!" Boann protested.

Vaughan only waved his hand dismissively. "Of course it is… if you want to dress up your pets and have a pretend wedding for them. But don't act like this is a real wedding. And don't worry Mother… I'll have them back soon enough." He chuckled sadistically.

"If you _touch_ me… or anyone else here, I'm gonna cut your Maker-damned throat!" Kylae snarled.

Vaughan only laughed drunkenly again. "Oh, a scrapper! I will enjoy taming you… Let's see, we'll take her, the one with the with tight dress, her over there, and… where's the bitch who bottled me?"

"No!" Kylae yelled in fury as she flung herself at Vaughan, who had his back turned towards her. Kylae grabbed one of his wrists, yanking his arm up behind his back in a hammerlock, and in his drunken state he was too slow to pull away. Her other hand flying around his neck to his throat and seeking his windpipe, where she instantly clamped down. "Shianni, go! Get out of here!" Kylae yelled as she applied more pressure to both his throat and his arm. Kylae heard the unmistakable sound of a sword coming out a scabbard, then something hard hit her on the head and she fell into blackness.

* * *

"Just stay out of it…" Eebon told himself. "Just stay out of it…" When Vaughan and his cronies had left, they'd taken Kylae, Shianni, and three other elf-girls away with them. If it had just been Vaughan and his two sycophants, then he would have done something drastic. Surely saving innocent girls from being raped wasn't in breaking the code of the Grey Wardens. But there had been five soldiers with him, all them armed and armored, which would have stacked the numbers to one against eight, and even Eebon, acclaimed to be one of best swordsmen that Duncan had ever seen, knew that he couldn't win against those odds. All he could do was glare hatefully at Vaughan as the arl's son smirked back.

A large group of the elves stood nearby, close enough so that Eebon could overhear them, but he kept himself out of their circle however.

"Who was that?" Asked the blonde elf that Kylae had been set to marry.

Valendrian answered, "That was Vaughan Kendals, the son of the Denerim's arl."

"And are you really just going to let him get away with what he's done."

Valendrian sighed, "It pains me just as much as it does you. But what can we do?"

"We have to do something!" Soris growled. "He took both my cousins! I can't just stand here and wait for their bodies to wash up on the docks like what happened to the blacksmith's daughter!"

"But what can we do?" The blonde elf asked.

"I umm…" Another elf stammered. "I might be able to help."

Eebon's ears perked up at hearing that someone might actually have a plan. He felt himself edging closer to better hear.

"You see," The elf continued, "I work in the palace. If I were to show up with a couple other elves then no one would even thing to look twice or ask who they were."

"I'll go!" Soris said quickly.

"Me too!" The other groom responded. "Maybe we can get sneak them out before anyone even knows we're there."

"I doubt it will be that easy." Valendrian countered. "Our friends will certainly be under guard to keep them from escaping. And when you're discovered there will be no other recourse but to fight!"

"Then we fight!" Soris and other groom responded unanimously.

"That might not be necessary." Eebon said, pushing his way through the crowd. He couldn't keep himself separate and stay silent anymore. _Protect those who can't protect themselves._ That was part of the soldier's code he'd been brought up and trained with. And it tormented Eebon to no end that some people with power, either real or imagined power, felt that entitled them to abuse those they considered under them.

"Who is this?" One of the elves demanded. "And just who invited you, shem!?" Several of the other elves muttered similar sentiments and curses.

"That's enough!" Valendrian ordered sternly. "This is Eebon, a Grey Warden. And I will personally vouch for him as a friend of the alienage!" The discontent muttering quickly died down.

"Thank you." Eebon said respectfully. "Now as I was saying, my status as a Warden comes with certain advantages. I answer to no lords, therefore, I can walk straight into the palace and demand an audience with Vaughan… or at least make it look like that's what I'm doing. I can take the two of you along," He pointed at Soris and the other elf, "Under the guise of being my squires or my new recruits. From there it shouldn't be too difficult for a Grey Warden to talk his way past a few guards and rescue your friends."

"And what about Vaughan?" Soris demanded.

Eebon sighed. "There's nothing I can do about him. Another stipulation of my order is that we have to remain clear of conflicts like this… I'm already stretching the rules by offering to do what I have already." That particular statement brought about another series of angry curses and mumbling from the surrounding elves.

The blonde elf said, "Then that will have to be enough. Remember, we just need to get our friends back!"

"Weapons would be helpful too." Soris moaned quietly.

"Would these help?" A gentle voice asked, and every turned to see an older templar with a shaved head and clouded eyes asked. He offered a longsword and a crossbow.

"Otto!" Soris said happily, taking both the weapons. "I didn't know you were here."

"I have been listening for some time now." The blind man responded. "And like the Warden here, I cannot simply stand by and let people I have come to know so well be harmed." He turned nearly sightless eyes to Eebon and dropped a heavily armored hand onto his shoulder. "Take care of them, warrior. And bring everyone home."

Eebon clasped the templar's forearm and answered. "I will!"

* * *

Even before Kylae opened her eyes she could hear voices around her, one of them sounded particularly terrified and kept chanting, "Maker keep us! Maker protect us!" She knew that was Nola, easily the most pious person that Kylae had ever known, and also one of the most timid. Then a voice that clearly belonged to Shianni mumbled, "Shut-up! You're driving me crazy with that!" Kylae opened her eyes and groaned, reaching up to touch her head where she'd been hit, she wasn't surprised to find that her hand came away bloodied.

"Ouch..." She moaned quietly. "Alright… whatever shem hit me is gonna be dead soon!"

Shianni moved closer and knelt by her cousin's side. "Good see that they didn't hit you hard enough to make you lose your fire."

"Why didn't you run?" Kylae asked as she slowly looked around the room. There were no windows, and it felt slightly cool, so it stood to reason they were in cellar or storage room somewhere. The only light came from a barred window on the door, and a few torches along the walls.

"I did, but I didn't make it very far." Shianni answered.

"Where are we?" She asked, although she already knew the answer.

"We're in the palace of course… waiting for _you know who_ to get himself ready!" Shianni's voice was dripping with hatred.

"Maker keep us! Maker protect us! Maker keep us! Maker protect us!"

"Shut-up!" Both Kylae and Shianni ordered at the same time.

Nola did just that, and in the quiet they all heard several pairs of boots approaching. '_This can't be happening._' Kylae thought to herself.

"Whatever happens, we should just do what they say." Nola whispered, "Then maybe they'll let us go—"

"Are you crazy?" Shianni whispered harshly, "We're talking Vaughan Kendals here! Do you remember when—" She was cut off when the door opened and the five soldiers who had accompanied Vaughan to the alienage all entered.

The leader of the soldiers said, "Alright ladies… you're gonna come with us now. Vaughan is waiting for you." He looked down at Kylae, still half laying on the floor. "Except for you. Vaughan said to break you in first."

Rather than becoming fearful, Kylae was only getting angrier, and she slowly pushed herself to her feet. "What?" She spat. "You tellin' me that he's scared of me 'cause of that little scuffle? Well he sodding should be!"

The soldier laughed cruelly. "I like your spirit! Breaking you of it is going to be all the more enjoyable for me!" He tapped another soldier on the chest. "An' him too!" They both laughed.

One of the soldiers started to make his way towards the group of elves and Nola whimpered, "Please no… just let me go home!"

The soldier responded by backhanding her hard across the face so that she fell to the floor, then he leaned down and hauled her up by her hair. As he did so, Nola took her last breath and unleashed in a spray of spit and blood into his face. Kylae wondered if Nola had at last found her courage, or if she knew what would happen next and chose death over violation. The other four soldiers all started laughing, and they didn't stop when their companion drew his sword and stabbed Nola through the chest. The girl slid off his blade and to the floor where she lay in a bloody heap.

"You killed her!" Shianni yelled.

The bloodied soldier replaced his sword and wiped the blood and spit from his face before answering. "You gotta teach the animals some respect don't ya? Now are you gonna come along quietly or join your stupid friend?"

Kylae had never felt so helpless as when she saw Shianni, Valora, and Michelle being taken away by three armed soldiers. She could still feel the dagger on her leg, but against the five of them it wouldn't do much good, and would only get her, and possible her cousin and friends killed as well. But now there weren't five soldiers, there were two of them. Kylae had successfully schemed soldiers before, but the stakes were never this high, and she'd always had Shianni and Soris to back her up.

"Now that that's taken care of…" The lead soldier said as he started to advance towards her, unbuckling his belt and removing his helmet as he did so. "This can go two ways for you, elf… so what will it be? The easy way…" He grinned sadistically as he said, "Or the hard way?"

Kylae tried to mimic the doe-eyed look that she'd seen Shianni use so many times before. She knew it had a way of putting men at ease. She glanced at Nola's body and swallowed, taking several deep breaths before she answered in a quiet voice, "The easy way." Both the soldiers stopped and looked at each other, they hadn't been expected that from the 'scrapper'. "I've learned my lesson… and I don't wanna end up like… her." The lead soldier grinned cruelled again and quickened his advance towards her. The second soldier moving closer so that he could get a better view of what was to come. It was all Kylae could do to keep the submissive, doe-eyed look on her face to conceal her true intentions. She kept her eyes on the soldiers as she started to lift up her dress, pulling it farther and farther up her legs, and the eyes and grins of the two soldiers only grew.

Just as the lead soldier came within arm's reach, Kylae snarled and tore the dagger from its hiding place. The closest human had been in the process of dropping his pants, so he had no way to defend himself as Kylae lunged closer, ripping the dagger across his throat with a savagery she'd never known before. It took a second for the other soldier to fully register what had just happened, and he fumbled for his sword… much too slowly.

"DIE!" Kylae shrieked as she flung herself towards him, the soldier screamed as Kylae plunged the dagger through his eye all the way to the hilt. Although he was probably already dead as she pulled the dagger out, she cut his throat as well. "DIE!" She screamed again, and continued to stab him in the face and the throat. "Die! Die! Die!"

Having finished with the second soldier, she heard a slight gurgling noise and turned back to the first. He was still alive somehow, holding both his hands over his ruined throat and struggling to breath. Without wasting a second Kylae pounced on him, driving her knees into his chest, then pushing her dagger through his temple. "You shem son-of-a-bitch!" She yelled, and continued to stab him, "That was for Nola!"

Once she was finally finished exacting her vengeance on the corpse, she looked up to see a shocked and somewhat horrified looking Soris and Nelaros standing in the doorway, Soris with a longsword, and Nelaros with a crossbow and quiver of bolts. Kylae stood up, her once beautiful wedding dress stained red, and soaked through with blood, her hands and face dripping with crimson. "What…" She said, and for a moment she didn't recognize her own voice. "What are… How did you two get here?"

Nelaros was too shocked by the scene in front of him to speak. Soris had to swallow twice before he could answer. "That Grey Warden… Eebon brought us in here. He said that… we were hoping you could get to you before Vaughan did."

Kylae wiped blood out of her eyes and nodded. "You did…" She said slowly, and looked back at Nola. "But she's dead… and they took Shianni, Valora, and Michelle away." Then her face turned fierce and determined again. "Come-on! We gotta get them back!" She picked up one of the dead soldier's swords and quickly pushed her way past them and started moving up the stairs to the ground floor. Apparently she had been in a cellar room.

At the top of the stairs she almost jumped back down again at seeing a towering warrior wearing scaled armor and with a massive greatsword in his hands, then she remembered that it was Eebon, the Grey Warden shem who was apparently helping them. Eebon looked with surprise at the condition of her dress, and then at her blood stained face.

"Do ya think an elf can't fight?" Kylae glared.

"No." Eebon answered quickly. "I'm just surprised to find you like this."

"Yeah well, snap outta it! We gotta go get Shianni and the others, they're with Vaughan already and we gotta get them out before he kills them or worse!"

Eebon made a noise somewhere between a groan and a sigh as he said. "I can't have any part in it then… It's going to bloody, and as a Warden I cannot involve myself in it! With all screaming between you and the dead soldiers I'm surprised we don't already have the whole castle coming down on us!"

"Then what good are you!?" Kylae raged. "If you knew anything about that bastard Vaughan you woulda known this would get bloody!"

"You don't understand!" Eebon tried to explain, "If I involve myself any more than I already have I'm going to jeopardize the neutrality of my order! We fight darkspawn, nothing more! I'm sorry, but I can't put that at risk!"

Since both her hands were carrying weapons, she pointed an accusing dagger at Eebon. "You know what, I don't give a flying fuck about your order! I care about my cousin and my friends who are probably being raped as we speak! If you ain't gonna help me then the get the fuck outta my way!"

As soon as Kylae had finished her rant, another group of soldiers appeared at the other end of the room, finally come to check on the screams of the dying soldiers they'd heard. The soldiers took one look at the blood drenched Kylae and quickly put the missing pieces together.

"Seize them!" One of the men yelled. "Seize them all! Dead or alive, I don't care!"

Thankfully, Nelaros' quickly came back to his senses and saw what was going on. He pulled up the crossbow and squeezed the firing mechanism. The short, sturdy bolt flew from the weapon, hitting one of the soldiers in the chest and punching through his armor. The soldier came forwards another two steps before falling dead.

Eebon's own warrior instincts took over and he threw himself ahead of the elves halting the advance of the solders and fighting two of them at the same time, expertly blocking their strikes on his greatsword and pushing them backwards. He made no attempt to kill them however, and fought purely on the defense.

The elves on the other hand fought anything but defensively. Moving with the training that her mother had supplied her, Kylae danced around the soldier who came after her, avoiding his strikes with her agility and speed rather than matching him blow for blow. She remembered one of the many lessons her mother had given her.

'_There is nothing fair about a fight, and we assassins are not soldiers. Don't try to match your enemy's strength with own… That's how good assassins get killed!' Adaia reached out and touched a young Kylae's forehead with two fingers. 'Instead use your brain, Kylae. Find his weakness and use it!_'

After the third swing, Kylae noticed that the soldier tended to overexert himself on his own strikes. She waited for the fourth attack, and when it came she lunged in, too close for his weapon to be any good and jabbed her dagger into the side of his neck, savagely ripping it out the front of his neck and nearly decapitating him. Kylae looked to find Soris fighting another soldier sword to sword, and despite Soris' clumsiness when it came to fighting, he was somehow managing to hold his own. Like her mother, Kylae was not one to give a fair fight, and dashing towards the soldier she rammed the too-large longsword through his armor and into his back. The soldier stopped and screamed and then Soris cut into his neck, silencing him.

At the same time, one of the soldiers that Eebon had been fighting broke away and made a mad dash towards Kylae, coming in on her blind side.

"Watch out!" Nelaros yelled, and fired another bolt from his crossbow, this time hitting the soldier in the stomach. Kylae jumped away, and out of reach of the soldier, and as the human fell to his knees he looked hatefully at Nelaros, and bringing his sword back over his shoulder he threw it. The sword spun through the air, taking Nelaros full in the chest, and the wedding clothes he wore did nothing to stop to blade from piercing his heart.

"No!" Kylae yelled and ran to her dying fiancé.

Eebon glanced over his shoulder, and as he saw Nelaros lying in a pool of his own blood, something changed inside of him. He'd tried to protect Soris and Nelaros, bringing them along under the guise of being his recruits, and even though he barely knew either of them, he couldn't help but feel responsible for the death that he knew would soon come. Eebon slammed the soldier's sword out of the way with ease, then rammed his shoulder into the man's chest, pushing him back against a wall and stunning him for a moment. As soon as Eebon pulled back, he drove his greatsword through the solder's chest, twisting the blade before yanking it back out.

"Nelaros no!" Kylae said as she came to his side. "No, don't die… don't you dare die like this!"

"I…" Blood streamed for Nelaros' mouth as he choked out the words in a barely audible voice. "I'm sorry… th-th-that I c-couldn't do… b-b-better." As his last act he grabbed Kylae's hand and pushed something into it, then his body collapsed on the cold stone floor.

Kylae opened her hand to see what her betrothed had given her in his last moments. It was a ring, forged from scraps of gold. Kylae could see where the pieces has been melded together to form the band. For one of the few times in her life, Kylae was deeply touched. She hadn't even known Nelaros for an entire day, and had risked everything to free her. And now he was dead.

Kylae felt a single tear form and roll down her cheek as he slipped the ring on, and as a final act of decency to Nelaros, she pulled the sword out of his body. "Another death because of that bastard Vaughan!" Kylae declared as she stood to her feet. She looked to Eebon to see the last of the solders lying dead at his feet. "And it looks like you're pretty involved now! So what's it gonna be shem? You gonna help us or not?"

Eebon looked at the dead body of Nelaros, then to Kylae and Soris. "Oh I'm with you!" He growled.


	3. The Warden Kylae

The door to Vaughan's room was locked from the inside and was sturdy enough to keep Kylae and Soris from kicking it in. After a few moments of their failed assault, Eebon pushed them both out of the way and attacked the door with his greatsword. The bedroom door was hardly a gate meant to keep a determined warrior out, and it didn't take long before Eebon had hacked a hole large enough to reach through and unlock the door. No sooner had the latch been undone than Kylae kicked the door open and glared with unfiltered loathing into the room.

Shianni lay on a rug in the middle of the room, bleeding from her nose and her mouth, her face and neck already bruised in several places from the beating she'd received, and those were just the visible marks. Kylae knew there would be more that she couldn't see right now. Shianni looked at her two cousins like they were a dream and she expected to wake up soon. The beaten elf made an effort to keep the tattered remnants of her clothes together and cover her own body.

Then Kylae looked up from her brutalized cousin to Vaughan. The man was naked above the waist, and only wearing a pair of trousers. She could see three red gashing down his face that dripped blood, Shianni had put up a fight. "You!" Kylae hissed, stepping inside the room and pointing a sword at Vaughan and his two friends. "I told you that I would cut your throat! And don't you think for one damn minute that either of your idiot friends are gonna save ya… Your blood… belongs to me now!"

"How did you…" Vaughan drunkenly slurred. "Where in the Maker's name are the guards?"

Soris came in as well, both his hands on the hilt of his longsword. "They can't hear you now, shem!"

"You… Cousland!" Vaughan pleaded, "You know who I am and who my father is! Make them stop… take the knife-ear and just leave! I-I can pay you! Anything you want!" He finally grabbed his own sword but was so drunk that he couldn't even hold it without the blade wobbling back and forth. He couldn't take his eyes off the elf-girl who was steady advancing towards him, and the blood that covered her face and dress.

Eebon's face was filled with disgust and loathing for the man in front of him, and he entered the room only to block the door. "You've had your way long enough Vaughan." Eebon answered grimly. "Now you pay the price!"

In a panic, Vaughan threw one of his friends at Kylae and her sword cut deeply across the chest of the unarmed man, then her dagger disemboweled him.

"You can't do this to me!" Vaughan raged. "I'm the arl of Denerim's son!"

On the floor, Shianni whimpered, "Please… I want to go home!"

Kylae looked from Shianni back to Vaughan and hissed, "Not for long!" And threw herself at him.

Soris held back only for a second before moving himself, skewering Vaughan's other friend through chest.

From where he stood in front of the door, Eebon watched with no small amount of satisfaction as Kylae fought against Vaughan. The lordling was so drunk, and already so scared of Kylae that he could barely manage to put up a fight at all. Kylae could have killed him at any time, and Eebon knew it, he could see that she was only toying with him. After a while of the one-sided fight, Kylae slashed Vaughan's sword arm, and the blade clattered to the floor, then she reached out and slammed the flat of the sword into his ribs, and Vaughan howled in pain. Kylae dropped her dagger and gripped the sword with both hands, repeatedly beating him with the flat of the blade, and screaming a profanity or insult to him with each strike.

Finally she stopped the beating, and stood over Vaughn, breathing hard. "And now…" She said through clenched teeth. "This is where I kill you." She raised the sword one final time, but before she could bring it down, Eebon's armored hand lashed out, grabbed the sword, and pulled it out of her grasp. "What are you doing!?" Kylae screamed

"Saving you." Eebon said coolly.

"You mean you're saving him! The man who kidnapped me and friends and raped Shianni!"

"No." Eebon said, still using a calm voice. "I'm saving you, and all your people. Believe me, I hate him too, and there is nothing I would like to see more than you run the sword through him… But you can't do that."

"Why not!?"

"Because he was right. He is the son the arl. And if you kill him now then think about what will happen when his father and the king return from Ostagar and find out that he was killed by elves." He could see the realization start to dawn on Kylae's face. "Soldiers will come to the alienage, and they're not going to be content with just taking you and Soris for this. It will a massacre! And in all likelihood, the alienage will be destroyed. That's why you can't kill him." Eebon bent over and grabbed Vaughan by the throat, hauling him to his feet. "Take care of your cousin." He said quietly. "I'll find out where your other friends are, and then I'll lock Vaughan in a closet or something." He started to drag the helpless noble from the room before Kylae could protest again.

Kylae stood rooted to where she was for a moment, lost somewhere between anger and disbelief at what had just happened. Then she felt Soris hand touch her shoulder and she looked over at him.

"He's right, Kylae." Soris said quietly. "Killing him would have felt good, but in the long run it only would have led to more of our blood running through the streets."

Kylae finally nodded and knelt by Shianni's side. "Shianni…" She almost whispered. "It's alright now. It's over… We're going home."

"So… so much blood…" Shianni said distantly, looking at the crimson which stained Kylae's face and clothes. "You k-killed them… didn't you?"

"I did." Kylae nodded, then looked up at Soris. "We did… We killed them like the dogs they were!"

"Good…" Shianni said, still in a distant sounding voice. "Good." She repeated again and threw her arms around Kylae, not caring about the blood.

Eebon appeared again a minute later along with a very shaken Michelle and Valora. "I found them." He announced quietly. "We should probably leave before anyone else comes along."

Kylae nodded in agreement and tried to pull Shianni to her feet, but her cousin was still too deeply shocked from the recent chain of events.

"I can help." Eebon offered, and Kylae reluctantly nodded. The big warrior knelt by Shianni's side and said in a comforting tone. "Shianni, my name is Eebon. I promise that I won't hurt you, and if you allow me, I'll carry you out of here."

It took a few seconds for Shianni to realize what had been said, and even then her only response was to nod one time. Eebon smiled in appreciation and picked her up in his arms as gently as he could, and the group began to make their way back to the alienage.

* * *

Sergeant Kylon disliked going to the alienage, and not because of any particular disdain for the elves, it was the looks that he received while inside the crumbling walls of the alienage. He was always afraid that someone was going to try and stab him in the back or at the very least throw a rock at him. But the elves of the alienage were citizens of both Denerim and Ferelden just the same as himself or any other human, and so they deserved whatever service the city guard could afford them, although it had been abundantly clear all too many times that his superiors did not share that sentiment. But being the duty-bound, and determined guardsman that he was, Kylon made sure that there was a patrol through the alienage once a day. Today's patrol had been cancelled after Valendrian had informed him that there would be wedding, and Kylon told his men to stay clear. He didn't need them interrupting some elven affair, and stirring up even more racial hatreds.

Fate it seemed did not smile on Kylon that day, as he and a full squad of his guardsmen had been ordered into the alienage after a mob of elves had invaded the arl's palace, killed a number of guards and two of the city's lesser nobles sons, and then nearly beaten Vaughan Kendals to death. Despite himself, Kylon couldn't help a small smile from spreading across his face. If anyone deserved to be beaten nearly to death it was Vaughan Kendals. If he had a silver coin for every complaint received about the noble brat, then he'd be a rich man by now. His smile only widened further at the thought that it was elves who had beaten Vaughan. '_Now that's something he'll never be able to live down!_' The sergeant thought happily to himself. His smile vanished as they passed under the gate that would lead them to the alienage, and Kylon fervently hoped that the number of guards he had with him would dissuade a riot or any other kind of violence.

As Kylon and his guards cleared the bridge that spanned the Drakon River, he saw that the elven elder, Valendrian was already waiting for him at the edge of the alienage, along with a young male and female elf, the female clearly drenched in blood, and most surprising there was a very large human warrior with a greatsword across his back leaning against the wall of a house with his arms crossed. The she-elf tapped her young companion with the back of her hand and motioned with her head for him to take off, which he did immediately. One of the guards to Kylon's right started to go after him, but Kylon motioned for him to stop. '_Is he crazy? Taking off alone through the alienage streets after one of their own? He'd be lucky to come back alive!_'

"Good day to you Sergeant Kylon." Valendrian said as he approached. "How can I help you."

Kylon couldn't help it, he had to touch his forehead and close his eyes in irritation. "Please don't play dumb with me, Hahren." He pleaded, "It is beneath you. You know why I'm here… several soldiers and two young nobles were murdered in the palace today. I'm here to arrest the ones responsible for it. Please don't make it any more difficult than this has to be."

The blood stained girl stepped forward. "I did it!" She said fiercely, and with unmistakable pride in her voice. "And I would do again in a heartbeat! That son-of-a-bitch Vaughan invaded _my_ wedding! Kidnapped me and my friends, then beat and raped my cousin! Where's the concern for that! Where are you shems every time something happens to one of my people! Thanks to you, we gotta dispense our own justice, and then you damn shems come down here and start treating us like the criminals!"

Kylon was shocked into silence at the girl's forwardness. "I _umm_... find it hard to believe that you accomplished all that by yourself."

"_Pfftt…_" She snorted. "We ain't so helpless y'know?! My mother was Adaia Tabris… I'm guessing you heard of her, and she taught me well!"

Kylon rubbed his forehead again, silently wishing he was a guardsman is some quiet little hamlet out in the countryside. "You have courage… I will give you that." He said, then motioned to his guards. "Arrest her."

"Just like a shem…" She groaned. "Let the other shem off clean and arrest the evil elf."

"You'll have a chance to defend yourself and your actions at your trial."

"Trial?" She repeated. "With a shem judge and a load of angry shems all screaming my blood… fat chance of any real justice happening."

Finally the big warrior pushed himself away from the wall and came closer. '_And just when I thought this day couldn't get any worse…_' Kylon thought, and almost drew his sword in a preemptive defense.

"Sergeant." The big man said in a surprisingly quiet voice for someone his size. "My name is Eebon of the Grey Wardens, and I believe that I might be able to help in this matter."

'_A Grey Warden?!_' Kylon thought silently, and he heard the quiet murmurs from his guardsmen behind him. "And how would that be?" He asked.

"I came to Denerim to find a recruit for the Grey Wardens, I'm sure you've heard about the darkspawn army massing in the south near Ostagar. I am invoking the Right of Conscription and drafting this woman, Kylae Tabris, into our service. Therefore, she will be removed from your city, and you won't have to worry about an elven riot springing up because you arrested one of their daughters while they were only seeking to defend their own."

Before Kylon could even answer, the elf, Kylae looked up at the big warrior and said in disbelief, "You can do that? Really?"

Eebon of the Grey Wardens grinned and announced loud enough to be heard by everyone. "I can, and I just did."

Kylon instantly began to feel his headache lessen, and a weight from his shoulders begin to lift. "I see." He said, trying to conceal his own happiness at the resolution of the matter. "In that case, who am I to stand in your way. Just make sure that you get her out of the city by sundown for the sake of peace."

"I will do that."

"Alright boys," Kylon called loudly. "Our job is done here, back to your patrols." As the soldiers began to disperse Kylon looked back at Eebon and nodded appreciatively. He didn't need to say anything else, and the big warrior returned the gesture.

Eebon watched the disappearing guardsmen for a minute, then looked back to Kylae and Valendrian. "Now that that's taken care of," He started, and looked directly at Kylae. "I would suggest that you pack your things and say your goodbyes. I don't mean to rush you, but we do need to be out of here by sundown and that is…" He glanced up towards the sun, "Probably about three hours from now."

Kylae was too shocked from the situation to say much of anything, so she only nodded and turned to make her way back to her father's house.

After she'd gone, Eebon looked back to Valendrian. The old elf shook his head and said, "I thought we agreed that you wouldn't recruit Kylae."

Eebon smiled and chuckled. "It wasn't my plan, I promise you. But it did seem the best course of action, and probably the only way to save her from an executioners axe."

"I agree." Valendrian smiled as well. "Thank you for that. And just be sure that you take care of her. She was a headache, but she was also one of our own."

Eebon nodded. "I promise I will."

* * *

The Traveler's Rest was exactly what the name implied it was, an inn and tavern a few miles outside Denerim that mainly serviced traveler's going to and from the city. Eebon had seen better accommodations, but he'd also seen worse, and from the way Kylae was looking around the room and way she savored the food and drink provided, he guessed it was probably the best she'd ever had.

"Do you want more?" He asked as he watched Kylae shove the last of the tough bread into her mouth. She nodded and Eebon caught the eye of the innkeeper and held up two fingers, signaling for two more servings and pints of mead. The innkeeper nodded and moved to fill the order.

"So…" Kylae said after swallowing the bread, but before gulping down the last of her mead. "I'm really gonna be a Grey Warden? Just like in my mother's stories 'bout them? Travelin' all over the kingdom fighting darkspawn and saving people?"

Eebon nodded, and he had to smile at her enthusiasm. "If you want." He answered.

"If I want?" She repeated. "What in the Fade is that supposed to mean? Am I gonna be a Warden or not?"

"I'm giving you a choice whether you want to or not." Before he could explain, Kylae was talking again.

"Alright, you need to start making sense here, human-guy." She stopped long enough to look hungrily at the stew, bread, and mead that were delivered. "Just a few hours ago, you drafted me into the Wardens, you're taking me to Ostagar where I'm gonna be a Warden, you tell me that Wardens fight darkspawn and nothing else, and now you're making it sound like I have a choice? Make sense already!"

Eebon wasn't sure if she was done talking or was just taking a break to start eating again, but he took no chances. "I mean that I'm not going to drag you off to become a Warden if it's not something you want to do. I conscripted you back there just to get you away from Denerim so you could avoid a sentence that you don't deserve, but now I'm giving you a choice." Eebon stopped and chuckled to himself. "My commander, Duncan thinks that a weakness of me to allow such a thing, and if he knew I were giving you choice after what already happened, he would _not_ be happy with me. But all the same I leave it up to you. You can go to Ostagar and become a Grey Warden, and serve the greater good for everyone across the kingdom. Or if you decide that's not the life for you, I'll take you to Highever with me and you can have a new life and a clean slate. It's up to you."

Kylae swallowed and took a long sip of mead before saying, "Highever? You gonna recruit someone in Highever too?"

"There's always a chance, but probably not." He shook his head. "My father is the teryn of Highever. I'm going there for a last visit before I head to Ostagar. You're welcome to come with me if you want… or you can travel with a military caravan that's passing through here tomorrow, straight to Ostagar. I'll only be a few days behind at most."

Kylae mulled the proposition over in her head for a few minutes before she said. "I wanna be a Grey Warden. I grew up hearing my mother's stories 'bout them… And I think that an elf like me bein' a Warden would be another good way to stick it to the shems."

Eebon shook his head and chuckled again. "You really hate humans don't you?"

"Damn straight I do!" She said quickly, then she smiled at him and said, "But you seem to be a decent kinda guy… Don't get excited, I ain't saying you're a good shem just yet… But if you keep goin' the way ya are, then you'll probably be the first ever good shem in my opinion!"

Eebon threw back his head and laughed much louder. Then he held out his mug of mead. "I'll drink to that!" He said happily.

Kylae grinned at him and thrust her mug against his, then they both threw back their heads and drank.

* * *

_I will admit, the cameo appearances of Otto and Kylon were solely because I like both their characters and I wanted them to appear in this. So anyway that's it for this story, what did you guys think? Please leave me a review and let me know. Until next time..._

Falconhawk


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